James Hardy Dead At 31: Former NFL Player’s Body Found In An Indiana River

This is so heartbreaking. James Hardy, who played in the NFL from 2008-2011, was found dead in Indiana’s Maumee River on June 7. He was just 31 years old.

James Hardy is dead at the young age of 31, police confirm to TMZ. The former football player was reported missing by his family on May 30, and a week later, his body was discovered by in a log jam in the Maumee River by a water filtration plant employee. The employee immediately called police, and James’ body was eventually identified. It appeared that James’ body had been in the water for “several days” when he was finally discovered, according to TMZ’s law enforcement sources. Officials are continuing to investigate this tragic situation.

“Yesterday, the 7th of June at 2:30 pm. in Fort Wayne. Indiana, on the Maumee river, a body was discovered at the Hosey Dam by an employee of the filtration plant after he noticed a foul smell,” Michael Joyner of the Fort Wayne Indiana Police Department, confirms to HollywoodLife.com. “He walked over the catwalk and discovered the body as the source of the smell and the fire department made a recovery of the body. During the autopsy the body was positively identified as James Hardy. Since the body was recovered in the water the Department of Natural Resource Conservations Officers will be handling the investigation.”

After a successful high school football career at Elmhurst High School, James redshirted his true freshman year at Indiana University, then began playing on the school’s football team in 2005. He played until his junior year, and in January 2008, he declared himself eligible for the NFL draft. In the 2008 draft, he was selected by the Buffalo Bills in the second round, officially signing his contract on July 24 of that year. However, he was released by the team in Sept. 2010, then picked up as a reserve for the Baltimore Ravens in Jan. 2011. Unfortunately, he was released by the Ravens in Sept. 2011 afters suffering a hamstring injury throughout training camp.

“We are saddened to learn of the passing of James Hardy today,” the Bills said in a statement. “We send our condolences to the Hardy family as they deal with this tragic loss.”

When James realized football wasn’t going to work out, he tried to pursue an actin and modeling career, but ran into some personal trouble and was arrested in May 2014. During the incident, he reportedly attacked police officers when they showed up to his Los Angeles residence after receiving a call for disturbance of peace. His trial was set for Nov. 2014, but a judge deemed him unfit and sent him to a mental facility instead. Little is known about what James has been up to since then. Our thoughts are with his loved ones during this difficult time.

HollywoodLifers, leave your thoughts for James’ family and loved ones in the comments section below.